Do Content Advisories Work? Si.

As you know, I work for PRN so it is expected that I say, “I like our blog”. However, I REALLY like our blog and the bloggess behind our blog pumps out some great content. It’s not just the blog content she creates that I like so much – it is also her use of an old tool in a new way…

Yesterday, Sarah Skerik – bloggess – wrote a great piece asking “Do newswire services work?“. In this piece is a Slideshare presentation and an explanation of a trial Sarah ran. What trial, you ask?

Thanks for asking. I’ll tell ya.

For over a year now Sarah has been using the PRN syndication network to amplify the discoverability/awareness of key Beyond PR blog posts. The results have been terrific – we’ve increased traffic and subscriptions.

For the month of November (2013) Sarah used a trackable URLs within the advisories she syndicated to promote key posts. This resulted in nearly 1,000 click-throughs to the respective blog posts.

1,000 clicks may not seem like much but it’s a healthy amount when you consider that only a small percentage of readers ever engage with a call to action. This is universal – paid ads, emails, etc.

As you’ll see in the Slideshare presentation (7 slides) the advisories she wrote had headlines that were written FOR the audience (no mention of PRN at all). They anticipated queries that marketing communications/PR people would likely have and likely would search for. Crafting advisory headlines like this is like appropriately baiting a trap… the content is the bait designed to attract the right creature.

Once within the advisory, Sarah purposefully positioned the call to action link deeper than normal within the advisory. This would ensure that the reader would absorb the brief amount of content in the advisory before taking that “what’s next?” step.

That “what’s next” step is the hard one but you can safely assume – and I’m generalizing a bit here – that someone who makes a 2nd click is someone who is fairly qualified and wants to learn more.

With that in mind, 1,000 potentially qualified visitors = success in my book, especially if those folks are compelled enough to share the post, subscribe, request more info, or engage with PRN then or in the future as a thought leader. Quality over quantity.

This is a great example of why PRN can be such a powerful way to make your stuff more discoverable, whether that be through an advisory-only campaign or as a part of a broader, multi-channel marketing/communications program.